


Yellow Blossoms

by cheekaspbrak



Category: IT (2017)
Genre: M/M, cursing, this sucks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 21:02:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20141944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheekaspbrak/pseuds/cheekaspbrak
Summary: It’s been 27 years since Richie and Eddie have seen each other. There’s nothing more vivid than memories of young love.





	Yellow Blossoms

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sad about the lack of attention this got on Tumblr because I really enjoyed writing it. I hope it might get more love on here.

The tree standing in front of Eddie was older than him, covered in brown bumps and deep cracks that weren’t there the last time he had seen it. He could vividly remember what it looked like all those years ago. Pale green trunk, long limbs outstretched across the span of the front yard it had grown to be a part of. It was at the height of its life then, the blossoms the brightest yellow they had ever been.

Eddie sat on a bench in front of his old house. He anxiously craned his head back to look at the front door, hoping the current owners weren’t home, or if they were they wouldn’t come out to the front porch. The brown bench fit better than the ugly white chairs his mother had purchased for the front patio. It matched the aesthetic of the red brick floor that now had bright green vines clinging to it, growing towards him. He remembered all the times he had sat in this same spot, covered by the shade of this giant tree, just to escape his mother and feel like he could breathe again. He thought about everything this tree had seen.

The thought moved him to his feet to walk around to the side of the tree and peek into the dark space that was hidden in between two large branches. It had scarred over, now, and was difficult to read, but it was still there: the corny heart with “RT + EK” written inside, tucked away so Sonia would never see it. He could vividly hear Richie’s giggles as they bickered over why his initials got to go first. He could see him like he was right in front of him, fingers moving back and forth in between the branches with a box cutter. His nose scrunched up, hands pushing back his glasses every few moments. Eddie’s heart ached for the boy in front of him. How innocent and insecure he had been. He wished he could reach out and hug him and tell him that everything was going to be okay, that he should love himself because he’s perfect. He couldn’t, though. He vanished with the wind. He rubbed his thumb over the rough marks in the wood as though to apologize for the wound they had left.

_“Eddie.”_ His head snapped to the left, like someone had really said his name. It was just another memory speaking, though, beckoning him to stay a while longer.

It was Richie, leaning against the trunk of a tree, seventeen and wearing a black Nirvana shirt. He somehow managed to stand out and blend in all at once. He garnered all of Eddie’s attention with ease, rich black against pale green and bright yellow.

_“I’ve never kissed a boy before,”_ he murmured, turning away from Eddie, embarrassed. _“I’ve never kissed anyone before, actually.”_

Eddie fondly recalled the surprise he had felt when he told him that. Richie of all people hadn’t had a kiss at seventeen, how crazy was that? He remembered the way his long curls had brushed against his cheek when he leaned in to whisper:

_“I was saving it all for you.”_

Eddie had surprised himself by pressing his best friend against the tree and kissing him hard, like he had any clue what he was doing. Richie’s hands on his waist, smile against his lips, taste of cigarettes in his mouth; it was all dizzying.

It was just as dizzying 27 years later, when he was married to an awful woman, when he had forgotten all about his closest friend, the love of his life until he saw him in a Chinese restaurant with the same big glasses and goofy smile.

The screech of tires made his vision of Richie float away. He looked past the tree into the street where a black car was curving around the edge of the cul-de-sac. It stopped like it was thrown into park before the driver even hit the brakes, and Richie- _now_ Richie- came tumbling out mumbling _fuck_ and _shit_ repeatedly while he tried to untangle himself from his seatbelt. Eddie smiled fondly despite his heart racing. He looked the same in so many ways- tall, lanky, ungraceful. He was older, though, with a sharper jaw and more lines around his eyes and mouth. Eddie loved the way he looked now just as much as he’d loved him then.

“Eddie!” He shouted, bounding up the steps and landing on the same gravel Eddie was standing on. He took a moment to stare at him. He wanted to take in every detail. The way sunlight was shining on his hair and illuminating the fading freckles on his nose. The way the beads of sweat on his face glistened in white light, how he bit down so hard on his bottom lip he must have tasted blood. He looked like he was seventeen years old again, back against the tree, whispering into Eddie’s ear. He couldn’t believe he had forgotten all of this, the cheesy smile and the stupid jokes and the tightening in his chest when he looked into his eyes.

“How’d you know where to find me?” He asked quietly, like he was a kid still afraid that his mom would hear.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about this tree after I saw you. God, I would fucking frame a picture of this tree and put it on my wall. I love this fucking tree. All the memories-”

“I know,” He had started to ramble so Eddie cut him off and took his hand. “Remember when you convinced me to jump off and I fractured my ankle? My mom wouldn’t let me talk to you for-”

“-months.” Richie finished, smiling at the memory, though it may not have ended well. Eddie’s heart had been beating so fast, not from the pain, but from the way Richie had picked him up and carried him in the house, panicking and apologizing and hugging him.

“I can’t believe I forgot about you,” Eddie whispered so softly the words could have been carried by the wind. Their eyes hadn’t moved away from each other. He felt Richie squeeze his hand like he was afraid he would float away. “If it wasn’t for that dumb heart we carved in the tree I wouldn’t be sure it happened at all.”

“It’s still there?”

“It’s old, but yeah, it’s still there.” Eddie hadn’t even finished his sentence before Richie was walking past him to thumb at the old mark on the trunk.

“Wow, I remember you yelling at me for putting my initials first,” Eddie rolled his eyes with a huff, and Richie looked at him like he had just noticed he was there. “You still look the same. You still roll your eyes at me like that. Eds, I… It feels like you’re this piece of me that’s always been missing. My whole life it’s like I’ve been missing half of my identity until I saw you again.”

Eddie felt the tears hot at the back of his eyes trying to force their way out. He pushed the heels of his hands against his eyes. “You don’t remember, but that’s almost exactly what you said to me-”

“Before you kissed me for the first time. I remember,” The gravel crunched under his feet as he moved towards Eddie. “I remember everything.”

Eddie’s face felt like it was on fire. Maybe it was from the sun, but it was likely just from the blood rushing to his cheeks. He was thankful for the small breeze that helped him cool down.

“I tried to fall in love with so many people. They were never enough. I went through so many girlfriends and boyfriends. I didn’t know it but…” Eddie felt his breath hot on his ear as he leaned in close. “…I was saving it all for you.”

Before he even knew what he was doing he had Richie pressed up against the tree with his mouth on his. Long fingers wrapped around his waist and Richie- a _grown man_\- giggled against his lips. The only thing that was different, Eddie noted, was that he didn’t taste like cigarettes anymore. He pulled back and kept Richie’s shirt balled up in his fists.

“Did you finally kick your smoking habit?” Richie nodded proudly in response and leaned in to kiss him again.

They stayed there a while, on a strangers front porch, kissing and laughing while tiny yellow blossoms fell down around them, decorating their hair with memories from a lifetime ago.


End file.
